Raffay, László (1869 - 1927 után)

Applied artist, furniture designer and teacher. László Raffay studied in his home town and then in Budapest, after which he worked as a draughtsman in various furniture companies. In 1896, he started to teach woodworking-industry subjects in the Felső Ipariskola school of industrial art in Budapest, and later in the Állami Fa- és Fémipari Szakiskola (State Wood and Metal Trades School) in Szeged. In 1901, he entered plans for a competition to design low-cost bedroom furniture run by the Applied Arts Association, and won second prize. The same year, he showed a dining room suite in the Christmas Exhibition. In 1904, his designs appeared in Mintalapok (Design Drawings). A salon made in the Szeged State Trades School to his design was displayed at the 1906 Milan International Exhibition. The restrained appearance of Lechner’s Art Nouveau motifs in his early work later gave way to Vienna Sezession forms.